Molino says Hoffa is at his Best for Mackay Cup

By Glenn Davis

Townsville trainer Alby Molino has declared last year’s Mackay Cup winner Best Hoffa is in superior form in his attempt for back-to-back wins in the North Queensland feature on Saturday.

Rising nine-year-old Best Hoffa has won three of his past five starts – all for promising apprentice Marnu Potgieter – and has drawn perfectly in barrier one for the 2000 metre Cup.

Molino is hoping his decision to scratch Best Hoffa from last Friday’s Mackay meeting could prove a master stroke.

“I scratched him last week because he had a bad barrier and I thought a tough run would knock him about too much,” Molino said.

“He’s got barrier one this time so he should find a nice spot and hopefully he’ll be hard to beat again.”

Best Hoffa unleashed a dazzling finish from near last to down Cleo’s Poet over 1609 metres at his last start in Townsville on July 6.

The win stunned Molino who is looking to expand his stables to more than 20 once on course stabling is completed at Townsville’s Cluden Park.

“His last win was enormous and he was running away from them in the last 50 metres,” Molino said.

“He was well back but he picked them up quickly and he went a lot better than I expected.

“There’s no doubt he’s a lot better horse now than when he won the Mackay Cup last year as he’s more relaxed and a lot fitter.”

Molino knows the racing game backwards being a former jockey who rode for many years around North Queensland’s Burdekin region after starting off riding in Sydney for the late Ray Guy.

“I know things can happen in races as I rode for 30 years around this area,” he said.

“There’s 13 other horses in the race they are all dangers but Marnu (Potgieter) knows him well.”

Molino mixes training with a full-time job working as an emergency response crew member for Ergon Energy.

Best Hoffa is one of the three horses Molino trains for well-known North Queensland racing identity Tom Hedley.

Hedley also part owns former North Queensland cult figure The Harrovian, who finished an unlucky fifth in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm last month.